I have small smattering of art currently on display at the sweet as pie location of 5 Points Resturant and Market. Each piece is a mixed media painting on paper, framed and available for purchase through me for $350. Christmas is coming.
Go by for the art and stay for the brunch (I highly recommend the Breakfast Salad.)
5 Points is located at 756 South Stone Ave. Tucson AZ (where 6th and Stone meet)
GIVE AWAY TIME!
I’ve teamed up with my pal Lauren from SIGFUS DESIGNS to give away these two pairs of earrings. Designer Lauren Valenzula made the lovely Blossom Earrings on the right and I made the Tularosa earring on the left. ONE winner will win BOTH pairs!
Here is how to enter:
Follow BOTH @lexgjurasic and @sigfusdesigns on Instagram
TAG a friend you would want to share a pair with!
That’s it! ONE WINNER will be selected at random and notified on 11/3.
GOOD LUCK!
So happy to announce the inclusion of my work in the 10x10 an invitational exhibtion benefiting Tohono Chul Garden and Gallery.
For 10x10 artists are asked to showcase work no larger than 10x10 inches which is priced at $100 with 50% of the sales going to support Tohono Chul. This exhibtion is such a wonderful opportunity to visit and enjoy the gardens, support living artists, get a good deal on original artwork AND support a thriving Tucson insititution such as Tohono Chul.
10x10 goes on display in the Entry Gallery at Tohono Chul Gallery on Friday, October, 5 and at that time art can be purchased during regular hours. I HIGHLY suggest hustling up there to get first choice! This year I’ve donated 4 mixed media works on paper and at any given time 1 will be on display. Also you can request James or Nicole to show you all my donations. They would be happy help you make yoru decision. Images of my donationed artworks below.
Special reception on Friday November, 16 5:30-8pm.
10x10 closes Sunday, December, 16 2018.
To see the full series Coffee on Cream click here.
Feel free to contact me with any questions about these pieces or any others you may see on my website.
Untitled, 10x7.5 inches, mixed media including coffee, watercolor, ink and acrylic on paper, 2017
Untitled, 10x7.5 inches, mixed media including coffee, watercolor, ink and acrylic on paper, 2017
Untitled, 10x7.5 inches, mixed media including coffee, watercolor, ink and acrylic on paper, 2017
Untitled, 10x7.5 inches, mixed media including coffee, watercolor, ink and acrylic on paper, 2017
Big thank you to everyone who journeyed into Deep Time while the exhibtion was on display. Special thanks to all the positive supporters of this enormous vision at Scottsdale Public Art and the Scottsdale Civic Center Library. It was a great time!
Now that I'm back on dry land I've been able to shift focus back to my studio practice and have started creating new work inspired by monsoon season in the Sonoran desert.
Check out my IG to see recent landscape paintings created with coffee and glitter!
Photo by Chris Loomis
Commissioned by Scottsdale Arts at the Scottsdale Public Library at the Civic Centre, 2018.
Here I am sitting in front of The Geology of Mount Sherbet.
Micro Microburst, approx 12x6x6, mixedmedia sculpture, 2018
Well, well, well...much to my surprise, I am indeed a finialist for BEST ARTIST in the Tucson Weekly's BEST OF TUCSON 2018!
PLEASE take a moment to VOTE online! I'd TOTALLY APPRECIATE it!
Muchas thank yous,
LEX
https://posting.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/Survey?survey=17234296
I like it beg the question, do you know what the first rule of being oppressed is?
NEVER STOP CELEBRATING.
This cultural and personal philosophy I live my life by. No matter how shameful they want you to feel, never stop being your outrageous self. Never let anyone take away your joy of life.
We felt it at Stonewall which birthed the Pride parades we see now in our streets today. We hear it in the heavy bests of the club kids that found solace in chosen family of otherwise outcasts. And we saw it in Orlando where grief was danced to the ground.
For me, Pride Wreath, inspired by door hanging Christmas wreath, is symbolic of the triumphant spirit of celebration over oppression. As the stories we tell become more inclusive and the voices we hear are not just the familiar there are more to celebrate, more people at the party.
Also I have a new Instagram to follow along to, @lexgjurasic
Pride Wreath, 14x16x1.5 inches, mixed media on wood including tinsel, 2016
You are invited this Saturday for a special reception for the opening of Deep Time. The Scottsdale Public Library at 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd. will be open after hours from 6:30-8:30pm for this event that includes, amazing refreshments, fun kid-friendly activities and lots and lots and lots of art.
Deep Time the exhibition will be open during regular library hours through out the long hot summer closing on August 24! Creative and infomative workshops will be held in conjunction with the exhibition for adults and children alike, with a special closing reception with music by Tucson based musician LANO on August 11, 6:30-8:30pm.
If you aren't able to make it to this temporary immersive exhibition you can follow along on my IG account where there are lots of photos to enjoy!
And to top off the excitement of this week, Deep Time got a shout-out in This Is Tucson/Arizona Daily Star as a MUST to do when up Phoenix this summer.
Here is everything you need to know about the exhibition, opening reception, workshops all summer long and closing celebration!
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — DEEP TIME: Imagining the Ancient Inland Sea is an immersive, family-friendly experience running May 26–Aug. 24 at the Gallery @ The Library, Scottsdale Civic Center.
Presented by Scottsdale Arts, DEEP TIME takes visitors on a journey to the prehistoric ocean that once covered the Sonoran Desert, as imagined through the eyes of Tucson-based artists Lex Gjurasic and Rachel Slick. This sculpted environment uses color, pattern, light, texture and experimental materials to create an ocean-bottom experience of being surrounded by fanciful sea life, including kelp towers, coral reefs, an underwater garden, a bioluminescent tunnel and a large sea beast.
Gjurasic said she has reoccurring dreams about seeking and collecting. Her interactions with the desert follow a similar pattern as she finds herself consistently looking for treasures.
“Once I looked down to find a shark tooth fossil at my feet,” she said. “In creating DEEP TIME, I was able to draw inspiration from my curiosity for the desert's clandestine past and indulge my imagination in what it still might hold.”
Gjurasic has shown her work across the United States, from Seattle to Pensacola. Her art can be found as part of the Woman’s Building permanent collection at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. Among her public art experiences are site-specific installations for music festivals.
The two artists previously collaborated on the mural Sagrado Corazon de Tucson in downtown Tucson.
Slick is represented by galleries in Scottsdale, Albuquerque and Santa Fe and has shown her work throughout the nation, from Los Angeles to Chicago. Among her public art commissions are murals in Tucson, interpretive signs in California and a sculpture in New York.
Slick’s inspiration for DEEP TIME, is connected to a family story about desert mermaids. “Over the years, the story has changed with the teller, but the themes of metamorphosis and magical reality remain a constant,” she said. “I have wanted to create an installation about the ancient inland sea and that magical reality of the desert for quite some time, and I am very happy it’s finally happening.”
The exhibition also incorporates anthropology, paleontology and geology alongside folktales, legends and myths, providing opportunities for children and adults to learn about the creatures who lived in the prehistoric ocean through a mixture of science, fantasy and imagination. A variety of free activities throughout the summer will enhance the experience with creative workshops and visits from scientific experts.
The exhibition will open Saturday, May 26, with a reception from 6:30–8:30 p.m. Slick will take young visitors on a visual journey within the installation from 7–8 p.m. that evening, using an illustrated treasure map. The first 30 participants will receive a signed, special-edition map.
Other DEEP TIME events include:
DEEP TIME Slime — Friday, June 8, 10:30 a.m.–noon. Learn to make three different types of sea slime. Participants can even take the slime home with them. For ages 8 and older.
Create a Mystical Sea Creature — Saturday, June 23, 1–3 p.m. Use recycled materials to create your own fantasy sea creature with artist Tania Radda. All ages.
Super Corals! — Saturday, July 14, 1–2 p.m. Scientists are learning how corals can withstand challenging environmental conditions, like warming seas. Learn how “super corals” may save the reefs in this lecture by oceanographer Franklin Lane.
Meet a Paleontologist! — Friday, July 27, 2–3 p.m. Discover Arizona’s past as an ancient sea and meet paleontologist David Gilette in this family-friend discussion and workshop, where participants paint replicas of dinosaur teeth to take home.
Closing Reception and Performance — Saturday, Aug. 11, 6:30–8:30 p.m. Celebrate DEEP TIME with the artists, light refreshments and a performance by Lano, composer of the exhibit’s soundtrack.
For more information, visit ScottsdalePublicArt.org/temporary-art/exhibitions/gallery-civic-center-library. Questions about the exhibit: emailWendyR@ScottsdaleArts.org or call 480-874-4679. Questions about the workshops: email LHales@ScottsdaleArts.org or call 480-874-4642.
Neptune, 39x40x2 inches mixed media on panel, 2017
My heavenly painting Neptune from my Otherworldly series, which was on display last year at Tucson International Airport, was chosen by Tohono Chul Gallery to be a part of their exhibition of the same name!
Neptune will be on display in the exhibition Otherworldly at Tohono Chul April, 26 to August 12 in the Main Gallery. An artist reception will be held on Thursday, April 26th, 5:30-8:00pm.
Tohono Chul Gallery is located at 7366 Paseo Del Norte, Tucson AZ 85704
To view all of my Otherworldly paintings follow this link.
And it's the last week to see Soft Spring at TMA Museum Store.
Go by before it's ends!
Images by Tamara Wood
Thank you to everyone who came out last Thursday night to the TMA Museum Store for a celebration of Soft Spring!
It was a great evening to revel in springtime energy while enjoying 3 beautifully floral vignettes within the gallery. If you weren't able to make it enjoy these photos below from the event. Do note that Soft Spring will be on display through the end of April in the Museum Store, so it's FREE to visit. View Soft Spring online here and if you see a piece you dig call the TMA Museum Store for availability and pricing. I'm sure they'd happy to ship it to you!
All photos courtesy of Tamara Woods
See ya Thursday!
And if you can't make it to see the show check out my Soft Spring portfolio of the work. If you see something you love call the TMA Museum Store to request availability and price.
Recently I welcomed This Is Tucson into my studio for a chat. The result is this lovely profile and photo essay about my work and the million projects I currently have going on right now.
Yes, I am really working on art in these pics and OF COURSE I always do so with glitzy oversized earrings on!
Read the full post here A Glimpse Into the Fantastical World of Tucson Artist Lex Gjurasic
Photo courtesy of Angela Pittenger/This is Tucson/Arizona Daily Star
Please come join me on Thursday, April 5th for the opening of Soft Spring! I'm thrilled to be the featured Artist in The Museum Store at the Tucson Museum of Art & Historic Block and showcase this new work which is avaiable for purchase. The reception will be in coordination with other events that evening at TMA from 5-8pm. Soft Spring will be on display April 3-28.
Lex Gjurasic’s Soft Spring is new work that includes paintings, sculpture and wearable art. With Soft Spring Gjurasic embraces her synesthesia, allowing it to be involved in the creative process much like a divining rod, as opposed to treating the blending of sensory perceptions as a side effect of making art. The result is a wonderfully experimental body of mixed media work that draws its structural inspiration from botanical shapes, while having the textural quality and colors of edible confections. Gjurasic's synesthesia, in which colors have flavor, is even present in the title of this new work - Soft Spring; a play on words that speaks to both the floral motif and the texture of a perfect piece of cake.
New sculptural hangable mixed media works...
...as well as wearable leather flowers embellished with pearls, sequins and crystals.
I am having a lot of FUN working on DEEP TIME. We are deep in the thick of creation for the exhibition which will be on display May 29th-August 31 2018 at the Scottsdale Public Library.
You are invited to attend a special reception for DEEP TIME which will be held on the evening of May 26th.
You are also invited to follow along with this journey of Deep Time on my IG, @gjurasicpark
Part of a super coral sculpture in the studio with Moonpie the cat.
Super coral sculpture work in progress. Magic Mountain
Myself and a collaborator have been tapped to by Scottsdale Public Art, the City of Scottsdale and the Scottsdale library to create a large scale temporary installation at the Scottsdale Library. Deep Time is the scientific term used to describe a time before man . For three months during the summer of 2018 Deep Time will be hosted by the Scottsdale library so you will be able to explore our imagined vision of the primordial seascape that once was the desert southwest.
Deep Time runs May 26 – August 31, 2018
With an opening reception to be announced.
Scottsdale Public Library, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
There will be multiple events and workshops in coordination with Deep Time. More info to follow here on my blog!
Witness my work on the project on social media here, with #DeepTime.
We welcome any helping hands through volunteer oppertunities.
Email me directly if you would like to get involved.
I hope you make the time to come enjoy this experimental and encompassing exhibition.
See you in Scottsdale!
Muchas thank yous to everyone that sojourned to the Little Gallery at the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun to witness the exhibition Spines. It was a stunning location to exhibit the work and an honor to be chosen to do so.
Photo by Tamera Leanne
Also, grateful to Edible Baja for the write-up of Spines.
The DeGrazia Foundation and Lex Gjurasic invites you to Spines, an exhibition of recent work inspired by the found objects of the borderlands, on display at The Little Gallery at the Gallery in the Sun from November 5th to November 17th with a reception on Saturday, November 11th 12-4pm at 6300 N. Swan, Tucson AZ 85718.
Spines is an exhibit of exuberant mixed media sculptures and paintings by Tucson-based artist Lex Gjurasic that draws inspiration from the desert environment and the enduring creative spirit of Ted DeGrazia. For the duration of the exhibition Gjurasic will be present in the exhibition space daily during regular hours 10-4pm. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a mixed media sculpture also entitled Spines on display to the public for the first time. Spines is a 4 foot tall found calf spine, coated in beeswax and painstakingly covered in seed beads and embellished with quartz crystal points as to give it a holy glow. Gjurasic’s signature vibrant and inventive, and often experimental, works will include paintings and sculptures, works on wood, paper and bone as well as her charming handmade items available only during the Holidays.
Says Gjurasic about the unveiling of Spines the sculpture, “This piece draws influence from Huichol indigenous traditions and is comprised of found objects collected in the desert. Spines pulls energy directly from the desert and plays upon the ancient and scientific idea that the spine is the spiritual energetic center of the body and biologically the nervous system. It is also a play upon words as the every cactus employs spines that protect it. Spines the sculpture was arduous to create taking over a year and a half. I’m proud to showcase it in such a holy place as the Little Gallery at the Gallery in the Sun.”
Spines, detail, 36x16 inches, mixed media on bone, 2015-2017
Two bits of news worthy local recognition...
LeadLocal honored me by naming me their Artist in Residence. I've been hanging work in their beautiful adobe building in the Barrio Viejo for over a year now, so we decided to make our mutual love official! Stop by to see what's on the walls and to find out more about what LeadLocal does for our community or your organization or businesses.
#ThisIsTucson included a profile of me in their list of Riot Grrrls You Need To Know. I owe a lot to the Riot Grrrl feminists movement in the Pacific NW for allowing me as a teenage girl to find the voice that makes me the artist and woman I am today.
There is nothing more annoying than listening to some other artist talk about how their path is adorably supported by their parents. They don’t have student loans, Mom and Dad footed the bill for school, no sad trips to Hobby Lobby to use a 40% off coupon on supplies. Only the BEST for Junior! Not to mention Mom and Dad absolutely love ALL their art. They are just SO PROUD!
And home, home ISN’T NYC! They are just interlopers till acclaim comes their way. Home is still home with Mommy and Daddy. Who are both still married, to each other, by the way.
Immediately, I started protest hopping, worshiping the devil, and making drawings based on hairless Japanese pornography.
Don’t discount the value of unsupportive parents.
You are going to SHOW THEM when you make it BIG!
As a result of your folks’ lack of believing in your dream of becoming a regarded artist, you have a burning fire in your belly. The fire to show them that they are wrong.
You have a desire to make art at any cost. Sure, it’s nice to have Mother show your work proudly to her church prayer group, then pray for your success through JESUSCHRISTOURLORD’SNAME AMEN. But you have been blessed with nothing left to lose. You are so hungry for success. Through their lack of support, you are more self-reliant and therefore more creative. Any piece of free flotsam on the side of the road is absolutely wrought with unlimited potential!
You are not a well-kept lapdog; you are an artistic dingo scavenging the city for found objects.
Not only have your parents not believed in your dream, they never will. They never understood you anyway. You have always been so much deeper than them. You have never fit into their suburban dream.
Bah.
The benefit of your parents not giving a shit about your art is that you don’t have to give TWO SHITS back. You don’t have to care what they think of what you make. You are like a young Robert Mapplethorpe once he shook off the shackles of wanting his father’s approval and began to give ZERO FUX.
Better yet, you may not even know your dad! You are lucky to reside in good company with other great creative pioneers such as Jobs, Bezos and Superman.
You DON’T NEED THEM anyway. You are an autonomous individual who makes whatever you want. Sure, those other patsies whose parents love them make art, but it is privy to their parent’s approval.
Do you know what happens when your parents pay $200K for art college? They are so invested in your work that they expect results they can show the neighbors AND that matches the couch. Basically they own your ass.
The best advice I got from my mentor was that if your parents aren’t paying your way, they can’t tell you what to do. It was a light bulb moment.
Immediately, I started protest hopping, worshiping the devil, and making drawings based on hairless Japanese pornography.
Who was to say no?
Who would disapprove of my new artwork?
Who would cast a shameful eye on me? Not my boyfriend at the time, I’ll tell you that.
When I went to Mexico City for a protest I was participating in, I met with a radical arts collective in DF and naively asked them if they had financial support from the government for their work. They scoffed, “NO WAY! Then they would tell us what to do!” Not to mention the Mexican government had burned their printing press the year before….
Returning to the US, I had a revelation. Any artist who made the public even the least bit uncomfortable and was funded through the NEA or through any other governmental organization was pretty much fucked.
David Wojnarowicz’s ant-covered Jesus video made ME feel uncomfortable; I can’t imagine how his parents must have felt. But I’m sure they don’t really care. If they had cared, he wouldn’t have been able to work so wildly and untethered. He would have backed away from the edge and ruined the nature of the sublime rawness of his art.
If your Ma and Pa have ever suggested that perhaps you have a “backup plan” to becoming an artist, like court reporting school, becoming a legal secretary, or getting a “real” degree—or if they want you to be a bit “more practical” and are straight up NOT willing to pay for a degree in Fine Art—you have been gifted with the blessing of parents who don’t support your vision.
The truth is that it’s just your art vs. the world. And be damned if you allow wanting their approval to make you fail.
Your first opportunity to see new works from my Soft Spring series of sculptural objects at Tohono Chul Gallery this fall. I have been invited to include a few pieces in Tohono Chul Gallery's 10x10 small works invitational.
All pieces in the exhibition are no larger than 10 inches in size and all are $100.
10x10 will on display in the Entry Gallery 10/6-12/17 with an opening reception on Thursday, 11/16 from 5:30-8:00.
This should be a fun and frenzied event!
More info at tohonochulpark.org
